B

bagatelle – (noun) 1. a thing regarded as too unimportant or easy to be worth much consideration; 2. a short, light piece of music, especially one for the piano.

balbutient – (adj.) [literary] stuttering, stammering.

baleful – (adj.) threatening; menacing.

ballast –

(noun) 1. heavy material, such as gravel, sand, or iron, placed in the bilge of a ship to ensure its stability; a heavy substance carried in an airship or on a hot-air balloon to stabilize it and jettisoned when greater altitude is required; something providing stability or substance. 2. gravel or coarse stone used to form the bed of a railway track or the substratum of a road; a mixture of coarse and fine aggregate for making concrete.

concatenate – (verb) to link together as in a chain. (noun) a series of things depending on or resulting from each other.

concupiscence – (noun) a strong, sexual desire; lust.

corpulent – (adj.) (of a person) fat.

cozen – (verb) to trick or deceive. See also: cozenage.

crapehanger – (noun) a person who sees the gloomy side of things; pessimist.

crepuscular – (adj.) of or relating to twilight; dim, dark.

cunctation – (noun) someone who delays or procrastinates.

curvet – (noun) a graceful or energetic leap.

cynosure – (noun) a person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration.

D

dalliance – (noun) 1. dallying or toying; 2. an amorous relationship.

debouch – (verb) to issue or emerge , to march or flow out from a narrow pass or confined place.

degust – (verb) taste [something] carefully to appreciate it fully.

deluge

(noun) 1. a severe flood 2. a heavy fall of rain. 3. a great quantity of something arriving at the same time.

(verb) 1. overwhelm with a flood. 2. inundate with a great quantity of something.

demesne – (noun) any estate in land; a manor with attached lands not lent out to tenants.

denouement – (noun) the final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved; the outcome of a situation, when something is decided or made clear.

desideratum – (noun) something much desired or wanting. Also desiderate (verb) to long for; desiderium (noun)grief for what is lost.

enfilade – (noun) 1. a number of things arranged as if threaded on a string; 2. a discharge of firearms that sweeps a line or position from end to end (military); 3. a series of rooms with the doors in line affording a continuous passage; 4. a vista; 5. a situation or a body open from end to end.

jade – (noun) 1. a worn-out, broken-down, worthless, or vicious horse. 2. a disreputable or ill-tempered woman. (verb) to make or become dull, worn-out, or weary, as from overuse or overwork. See also: jadery.

jalouse – (verb) to suspect; to be jealous of.

jangle – (verb) make or cause to make a ringing metallic sound, typically a discordant one.

jark – (noun) a seal on a document; a pass, safe-conduct. Also jark man (noun) a swindling beggar.

lilt – (noun) cheerful song or air; cadence; a springy gait; (verb) to hum, to do anything briskly; to sing or play absent-mindedly.

limerence – (noun) [psychology] the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one’s feelings but not primarily for a sexual relationship. Also, limerent (adj.)

limner – (noun) a painter who uses paper or parchment; a portrait-painter.

lissome – (adj.) lithe, nimble, flexible.

literarian – (noun) a person well-read in literature.

loquacious – (adj.) talkative.

lorthew – (noun) Archaic. A teacher.

Lothario – (noun) a man who behaves selfishly and irresponsibly in his sexual relationships with women.

moiety – (noun) half; either of two parts or divisions; a small share.

mondegreen – (noun) a phrase , often humorous or nonsensical , that results from mishearing the lyric of a song.

morosoph – (noun) a philosophical or educated fool.

moue – (noun) a pouting expression used to convey annoyance or distaste.

munificent – (adj.) characterized by or displaying great generosity.

musth – (noun, adj.) a dangerous frenzy in some male animals, such as elephants.

myrmidon – (noun) a follower or subordinate of a powerful person, typically one who is unscrupulous or carries out orders unquestioningly.

N

naiad – (noun) 1. (in classical mythology) a water nymph said to inhabit a river, spring, or waterfall. 2. the aquatic larva or nymph of a dragonfly, mayfly, or stonefly. 3. a submerged aquatic plant with narrow leaves and minute flowers.

P

palimpsest – (noun) a manuscript in which old writing has been rubbed out to make room for new.

palisade

(noun) a fence of wooden stakes or iron railings fixed in the ground, forming an enclosure or defense.

(verb) enclose or provide (a building or place) with a palisade.

panacea – (noun) a cure for all things; a healing plant of varying description.

panivorous – (adj.) subsisting on bread; bread-eating.

panoply – (noun) complete armor; a full suit of armor; a full or brilliant covering.

parallelepipeds – (noun) a solid figure bounded by six parallelograms, opposite pairs being identical and parallel.

paroxysm – (noun) a sudden attack or outburst of a particular emotion or activity.

pasquinade – (noun) a satire or lampoon, originally one displayed or delivered in a public place.

pavonine – (adj.) [rare] of or like a peacock.

pedants – (noun) a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning.

pell-mell – (adv.) in a confused, rushed, or disorderly manner.

penumbra – (noun) a partial or lighter shadow round the perfect or darker shadow produced by an eclipse or by a large unfocused light source shining on an opaque object; the part of a picture where the light and shade blend into each other.

spoonerism – (noun) a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures.

untenable – (Adj.) (especially of a position or view) not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection.

V

vagaries – (noun) an unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or in someone’s behavior.

verisimilitude – (noun) the quality of seeming or appearing real or true; a statement that sounds true.

vespertide – (noun) the period of vespers; evening.

vespertine – (adj.) of or relating to the evening; happening, appearing active in the evening.

vestibule – (noun) 1. an entrance hall; 2. a cavity serving as entrance to another, esp that of the inner ear (anatomy); 3. part of a railway carriage connecting with and giving access to the next (N American); 4. a forecourt (ancient hist).

vicinal – (adj.) neighboring, local.

viz – (adv.) namely; in other words.

vizier – (noun) [historical] a high official in some Muslim countries, especially in Turkey under Ottoman rule.

Never knew that. All these years of reading all those nursery rhymes and letting that guy slip without questioning what it meant. You’re totally right, it does make so much more sense now.
And now I’m determined to use it five times today in conversation. I wonder if the kids will catch on and complain about it at supper tonight. “Time for diddle! I mean dinner!” 😉

Diddle is quite common in the UK As in, he’s been diddling the taxman. It’s the same as fiddle, although you can also say ‘on the fiddle’ . There. I’m off to my phrenology class now, where I will acquiesce to the tremulous vagaries of my tenebrous tutor. Thanks for the list.

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This is a great list. Do you use many of these words in your writing? Many of these words are more powerful than there commonly known synonyms. I enjoy reading books that have some words that aren’t used in everyday language by most people.

Oh yes, I try to use them when they fit the character or narrative. 🙂 I love purple prose and adverbs, haha. They have a healthy home in my writing, because alliteration is just part of the many facets of style I’ve developed over the years on my own. As long as it fits the story, haha.

I love finding new words, too! Makes me linger on the page just a little longer. 🙂

This is fun. By the way, I think there may be a typo in the definition of Afflatus (which meant something entirely different than I expected). You wrote impule and I think it is ‘impulse’. That said, you used a fair number of words I have never seen, so it is entirely possible impule is a word I need to stock up on as well.

apocrisy – (noun) the act of changing the moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior had previously aligned with (not to be confused with hypocrisy); e.g.; she was raised to be a devout Christian but has been atheist since her husband died.

Yeah, I can’t find it online, either. I’m only finding it as a username across many platforms. I’ll definitely keep it in mind, and next chance I have to go to a public library, I’ll check their dictionaries!

It is a word, according to several dictionaries… I usually try to use a collection of about 5 to cross-reference the items here. 🙂 I can’t remember where I saw it though. Probably on Interesting Literature at some point. Use with abandon! 😉